Writing arm for collapsible chairs



Oct. 26, 1948 w. T. CLAWSON WRITING ARM FOR COLLAPSIBLE CHAIRS 4Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May .15, 1946 William I 0/0 ws on INVENTOR.

0a. 26, 1948. w. T. CLAWSON 2,452,182

WRITING ARM FOR COLLAPSIBLE CHAIRS Filed May 15, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 2FIG/6 William I Clawson' IN V EN T 0R.

Oct. 26, 1948. w. T. CLAWSON WRITING ARM FOR COLLAPSIBLE CHAIRS FiledMay 15, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG 9 William 7 Claws on Oct. 26, 1948. wT c Awso 2,452,182

WRITING ARM FOR COLLAPSIBLE CHAIRS File ad May l5,' 1946 v 4Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. /0

FIG.

W/l/am 7. Clan/son 3mm Patented Oct. 26, 1948 UNITE STA-IE3 "'F F2,452,182

WRITING ARM'FOR COLL'APSIBLE CHAIRS.

William T; Clawson, Rock Hill; S: C. Application May 15, 1946, SerialNo. 669,955.v

3 Claims.

,This invention: relates to a collapsible. chair Schools, aud'itoriums,and the like comprises a rigid non-collapsible chair having a rigid armassociated therewith for writing, and when it is necessary to transportthese chairs from one building to another, as by placing them on a truckand hauling them from one location to another, only a very few of thesechairs, compara- ,tively. speaking, .can be placedin a truck fortransport, as. they fill upa great "amount, of. space.

'By providing a collapsible chair with-a removable or collapsible armassociatedtherewith, it

1s possible to remove the arm and to collapse the chair and to store orhaul the. chairs and. arms inv a much smaller amount of space than wouldbe the case where the arm isnot removable and the chair not collapsible.If desired, andvinone form'of the invention, it is shown,-the arm itselfcan be collapsed and folded or nested into the lower portion of theseat, where it will'be held in position and the entire assembly of chairand as a unit during transarm will be kept together port or storage.

It is, therefore, an object of thisinvention to provide a collapsiblechair witha removable and collapsible arm, adapted to benestedand-stowed inthe lower surface of the seat portion ofthe chair, soas to permit. a great numberof these chairs to be stacked within a verysmall space.

either for transport purposes or for storage purposes.

Itis another object ofthis invention to-provide I a collapsible. chairprovided with aremovable arm so that the chair can be collapsed and. thearm can be removedlfor transport or storage purposes, thus resulting inthe chair and arm occupying less than one-fourth'of. the space'whiohwould be cccupied by the conventional rigid armchair.

Some of" the objects of the invention having been stated, other objectswill'appear as the description proceeda'whentalien ir'rcormection withthe accompanying drawingain which- Figure 1 is a top plan view ofarcollapsiblechair ,equipped with my invention;

Figure. zis a side elevation ofFigure 1.;

Figure '3'is a bottom plan view-looking upwardly fromelong the. line. 33. in Figure 2 andshowfiri'gra portion ofthe chair in section;

Figure 4- is an enlarged detail of-the joint in the support for the freeend of the arm for the chair; Figure 5 is an enlarged detail of thelower end of the support and showing that fits into a hole in the chairseat; v

Figure filis'a top planzview showing a detail of the corner of the chairseat having the-hole therein for receptionof the lower endof the-sup;-porting rod shown-in Figure'B; I

Figure '7 is anelevationshowing adetail of'the forkedjoint between theupper and lower portions of.the supporting rodiforthe freeend-of the armofthechair, taken. a1ong;;line 1-1 in Figure4;

Figure 8. is aview showing .the arm in folded position ready for anesting in the seat of the chair.;.

Figure 9 is a ir'ontelevation of the chair in collapsed position,. andshowing the folded armin 'nestedcposition;

Figure 10 'isa side elevation of a modified form of. arm which is notcollapsible, thatis, itis'. not formed into two sections with hingesconnecting the two sections together;

Figure 11 is abottom plan. viewof'the form. of rigid arm shown inFigure. 10.. I

x Referringv more specifically, to the drawings, the numeral Illindicates thezbowedupper'portion of the. main frame of the. chair,having a back portion ll secured'th'erein, and thisbowed upper portionhas integral. therewith legs 13 and I4. Thelowerend of, these legs l3'and lLare joined together-bya suitablerod' I54. 1

Secured to the legs i3.and,. M are cufi members and I8, whichhavepivotedthereto,as at l9, conventional rear legs .20 and; betweenwhich rods 2! and 22 are secured'for bracing these rear legs 20..Secured to and spanningthe distance between the legs l3 and i4 isa..rod. 24'- ontwhich are pivotally mounted the intermediate; portionsof strap iron-members. 25-and 26;. These strap. iron members. are :spotwelded or. otherwise. secured ,to achairseat 2.1.The-rod.24-passessthrough the strap iron .members $25 and .26 and :forms.a pivot point for. the seat 21. The rearj endsof thestrap iron members25 have enlarged portions :28: and 29 which are adapted torest againstthe cross rod v2|, when the chair is in erected position,

Pivotall-ysecured to the strap. iron members, 25 and 26, as at 32 and33, are links and 31,,whose rear ends are secured, asaat 34, .to..-the.rear/leg 20'. The seat 2-! has .a downturned flange 35'extending aroundthe-tedgesthereof, thus forming a pocket on-the underneatlrsurfaceeofthe seat 2. 1. The use of this pocket will belater'referred to.

The structure thus far described is a convenportion, which .of theportion 42 for locking the 42 in parallel position.

tional foldable chair preferably made of suitable metal. It is mypurpose to convert this chair into an arm chair by providing acollapsible foldable arm adapted to be removably secured to theconventional collapsible chair.

In the upper portion of leg 13, or if a left hand armchair is desired,the same can apply to the upper portion of leg M, I provide a bayonetslot 31 into which a ball 38 on a member 39 is fitted into the upper*enlarged portion and adapted to be pressed downinto the lowerrestricted portion to confine the same. This member 39 is suitablysecured by welding or otherwise to an arm memher 4 I, which has pivotedthereto another portion 42 as by means of suitable hinges '43 and 44,these sections 4! and 42 being foldable along the line 45. On portion4!, I mount a guide. and support 45 in which a slidabie bar 41 ismounted for sliding movement. The bar 41 is forked asat 48 and adaptedto fit over a pin 49 on the lower surface portions 4| and Secured on thelower-surface 'of portion 42 is an inverted U-shapedbracket 53, havingpivotally jsecuredthereto, as at 54, a-similar U-shaped bracket 55 towhich is'secured. a rod 56, Whose lower end is .flattened'ia'nd rentersinto forked portion 51 of another rod 58, and the portions 56 ,and 58;arepivotally. securedlto each other'by means of a pivot pin, 591

v v v ,A slidable cuff 60 is provided on rod 58, which is adapted toslide down overthe pivot point 59, and be arrested by a pin ,62 disposedin rod-58' tomake the joint between the rods 55 and 58 a'rigidconnection.

The chair .seatzl has therein a hole 65, into which the lower end of rod58 is adapted to fit. This rod 58 has a shoulder 66 adapted to rest on araised rim 6'! surrounding the hole 65. The

raised rim 'S'Lhas a depression 68' therein, into whicha pin ,6 8 .onthe lower end of rod 58 is adapted to restto prevent turning of rod 58 intheho1e65.-

In the 'modified'form of. the. invention, shown in Figures 10 and1I,".like reference characters will but the a'rmis indicated as a pieceand indicated at and'a shank' portjion. 13 adapted to fit into the hole65 in the ,chair' 'seat. In' this form of the invention, the arm not befolded and nested in. the bottom of theichair seat, as in the otherjform of the invention, would be transported or stored separatelyl Whenit is desired to collapse the chair and arm for transportior storagepurposes, the arm, such .as shown in'Figures l0 and 11 can be removedfrom the chair and stored or transported separatelyand then the chaircan be collapsed in'a conventional manner. However, if it is desired tokeep the arm with the chair, then the collapsible armwould'be employedand this would be collapsed to the position, shown in Figure 8. It wouldthen he slipped between the lower surface of the chair seat 21, and thetransverse rod 24, which would wedge it in position and from whence itcannot be dislodged without being removed on In'the' drawings andspecification, there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of theinvention, and although specific terms have been employed, they'are usedin a generic and descriptive sense only,and not for purposes of lim- 4itation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. A collapsible chair having a main frame and rear legs pivotallysecured to the main frame and a seat member pivotally secured to themain frame and pivotally secured to the rear legs, a writing arm, abayonet slot in the main frame, and a member mounted on the rear end ofthe arm and adapted to be releasably secured in the bayonet slot, afront corner of the seat member having a vertically disposed holetherein, a supporting arm pivotally secured to the front lower surfaceof the writing arm and having its lower end shaped to fit into the holein the seat, the upper surface of the seat having a cavity extendingfrom the wall of said hole, and a projection on the lower end of thesupporting arm adapted to rest in said cavity for preventing rotativemovement of the supporting arm.

2. A collapsible chair having a mainframe and rear legs pivotallysecured'to the main frame and a seat member pivotally secured to themain frame and pivotally secured to the rear legs, a writing arm, abayonet slot in the main frame, a member mounted on the rear end ofthefar'm'and adapted to be releasably secured inlthe' bayonet slot, afront corner of the seat member having" a vertically disposed holetherein, a supportingarm pivotally secured to the front lower surface ofthe writing arm. and having its lower end shaped to fit into the hole inthe seat, means on the lower end of the supporting arm'for engaging saidseat for preventing rotation of the supporting arm, the writing armbeing divided transversely into front and rear sections hingedlyconnected together so that the Writing arm can be folded and stowedbeneath the seat portion.

3. A collapsible chair having a main frame and rear legs pivotallysecured to the main frame and a seat member pivotally secured to themain frame and pivotally secured to the rear legs, a writing arm, abayonet slot in the mainframe, amember mounted on the rear end of thearm and adapted to be releasably secured in the bayonet slot, a frontcorner of the seat member having a vertically disposed hole therein, asupporting arm pivotally secured to the front lower sur- REFERENCESCITED The following references are of record inthe file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Lochman 8i, al. July 21, 1936

